


Paper Dinosaurs and Ballroom Dancing

by GoldenDaydreams



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Ballroom Dancing, Cute, It's too late in the evening to be tagging, Love Confessions, M/M, Origami, POV- Gavin's Cat, Quarantine, Yoga, look at all this fluff, quareedtine, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:28:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23272468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoldenDaydreams/pseuds/GoldenDaydreams
Summary: Gavin is quarantined. A damaged Nines is stuck with him.Somewhere along the way, they fall in love.~~Told from the perspective of Gavin's cat, Freya.
Relationships: Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Comments: 18
Kudos: 158





	Paper Dinosaurs and Ballroom Dancing

The door opening woke Freya from her nap. She lifted her head, wondering who dared enter her domain. Her human shut and locked the door, he dropped his keys into the bowl on the stand, followed by his hip shiny. The hip shiny said he should be gone at least until the darkness took over. He didn’t look injured. This demanded some investigation. 

Before she could get up though, he came to her, crouching down to give her belly rubs. She let him get away with it for precisely three seconds before she attacked him with her paws, imagined clawing his hands for the indignity of it all. 

Her claws were long gone though, gone before Gavin, before the cages, before the wilderness, the escape, the quiet of abandonment. Gone in the days of the loud house with pretty thing, and indifferent humans. 

Gavin acted wounded, held his hand to his chest, dramatically dropped to the ground and faked a rather spectacular death. Freya licked her paws imagining cleaning his blood off in victory. 

Cleo finally uncurled from her spot on the couch, saw Gavin on the ground, and jumped onto his chest. 

“Ah! Fuck! Cleo!” He grabbed her and held her above his head. “What the hell you absolute demon!” 

“Mrowr!” Cleo only had one back leg, and used it to dig into his arm with claws she was still lucky enough to have. 

Gavin didn’t toss her aside, but set her back down on the couch, making sure she was steady before letting go. He sat up quickly before Cleo could make another daring jump. 

Persephone could be heard in the kitchen, her outlandish collar tinging against the food dish before she let out a pitiful mew. 

“I’m home early, it’s not time for food,” he said, standing up. “Television, on.” The television came to life, volume on low, subtitles along the bottom. “Television, play Detroit news.” 

Freya had no interest in the television, but her human was acting out of sorts. Home early. Disrupting her beauty sleep in the big sun ray she’d beaten Cleo to, and hissed at Persephone over. While Persephone continued to demand food, and Cleo hunted a fly buzzing around the room, Freya had her priorities in order. Her human looked as he did on the nights he cried out in his sleep, staying up the rest of the night on the balcony—no you stay here— smoking where she couldn’t comfort. 

She stretched when she stood, then jumped up on the couch. He automatically started to pet her, not even taking her eyes off the screen. No, that wouldn’t do. She stepped onto his lap, taking advantage of the way he slouched to bump her head against his chin. 

He ignored her the first time, but the second time he finally looked down at her, a soft smile on his face. “Hey sweet girl. Don’t worry, you’ll be getting a lot of attention since I’ll be home for the foreseeable future.” He said more, but she stopped paying attention when he rubbed her ear. 

***

The next morning, Gavin didn’t put on the hip shiny after food. Instead, he put on music and started cleaning. Freya jumped up to the top of her perch, hissing at him when he came near. 

“I just need to sweep-” 

She swiped at him. 

“You shed! This is your fault you giant hairball-” he went to pet her, and she swatted at his hand three times in quick succession. How dare he! He laughed and continued sweeping. 

She turned from him, swishing her tail in displeasure, curling up on her perch, watching him clean until she fell asleep. 

***

On the third day of Gavin home, he went to bed early. Persephone followed him to bed, as she always did, hopped up on the foot of the bed. Freya sat by the door as the human shed his clothing, plugged in his phone, and got under the covers. 

Her eyes adjusted to the dark, and she prowled around her domain. The dishes were done in the kitchen, and it smelled like lemons. She didn’t care for the scent, but went to her dish to finish eating before Persephone decided on a midnight snack. 

Next, she went to the door and attacked the laces on Gavin’s shoes, when that grew boring, she continued. Cleo was curled up on the plush bed that sometimes Persephone shared. Freya left the sleeping cat alone, lest she fall victim to Cleo’s rambunctious nature. The streetlights lit most of her domain, and she stopped to sit by the balcony doors. 

A moth flew near the window, and she pounced, her paws covering it but it still flew away. 

She had one more stop on her checklist. She walked into the bathroom, jumped up on the closed toilet, from there to the counter and from there knocked the container closer, and closer, and closer to the edge. It tipped, falling on it’s side and rolling a little. 

It had drawn Persephone’s attention, the other cat in the doorway, staring with one eye. Discovering the cause of the noise, she left, presumably to check the food dishes. Fool. 

Freya jumped down, and went into Gavin’s room claiming the spot at the foot of the bed that Persephone had abandoned. 

She watched over her human as he’d watched over her. She laid her head down on his blanket covered ankle, and fell to sleep. 

The shouting woke her, as did the kicking—OW! She skittered back, waiting as he turned on the light, looked around the room, and breathing heavily. A wounded noise left his lips before he buried his face in his hands. 

Now was her time. 

Freya came up to his side, nudged his arm with her head. 

“Hey, hey sweet girl, hey Freya,” he muttered softly as he pet her. “You’re the sweetest, aren’t you?” He picked her up, and she allowed it, allowed him to cradle her to his chest where she could feel his heart beating far too fast. She batted her paws at his fingers until he rubbed her belly and she proceeded to fight him about it. He smiled, and she figured he’d be okay. 

He set her back down on the bed when he got up. He paced a few times before pulling on one of his big sweaters that she liked curling up on when her human left it on the floor- an offering. The pants from yesterday followed, and he pulled the rectangular pack from the drawer. 

She followed when he left the room, made a beeline straight for the balcony doors. She tried to follow, but he nudged her away with his foot. “No, you stay here.” And the door shut. She meowed, but he ignored her, leaning against the railing, setting the end of the stick on fire. 

Cleo came over, hunching over slightly when Freya hissed at her. Gavin had been her human first, it was her duty to watch over him. Cleo laid down, reached out to bat at Freya’s swaying tail. Cleo was young, and dumb, and new, and didn’t know her place. Freya tucked her tail in close, and glared over her shoulder. Cleo grew bored, and left. 

Freya remained, sitting by the door. 

Waiting. 

***

The next day Gavin looked tired. He always did after the bad nights. Freya watched over him from her perch. He had the soft mat out, it had holes from Cleo’s nails. Barefoot, Gavin stretched out tall, arms above his head before bending, planting his hands on the ground. 

Persephone walked under him, and he sneezed. “Christ, Pers, get your tail outta my face.” Persephone took that as an invitation to walk by again. He lifted a hand to gently push her out of the way, it did nothing to deter her from sprawling down and stretching out, taking as much room on the mat as possible. 

A knock on the door had Persephone scrambling away, and Cleo clumsily running away too, the two of them hiding away in Gavin’s room. 

Gavin has only ever had one visitor. Tina who always brought them little shrimp treats and gave them extra when Gavin wasn’t paying attention, or when she came to feed them when Gavin couldn’t come home. 

Gavin pressed his eye to the tiny window, and muttered something. Unlocking the door, he opened it a crack. “The hell are you doing here, Nines? I’m self-quarantined.” 

“I can’t get or carry the virus. And I come bearing Pad-Kee-Mao. Extra spicy.” 

Bribery! Surely her human would not fall for—her human immediately stepped back, and let the new-comer in. Fool! 

The new man walked in, a spiny light on his temple that grabbed her attention. Spinning, spinning, spinning. 

Gavin accepted the bag of take-out. “Still can’t believe they sent every _human_ officer home.” 

“It’s for your safety and-”

“Everyone else’s blah, blah, blah.” Gavin walked into the kitchen and came out with a set of chopsticks in hand. “You going to sit down, or just loom over me, Terminator?” 

Persephone must have heard the wrinkling of the bag when Gavin set it on the coffee table and opened it up since the scavenger peeked out from the bedroom. 

Nines sat with Gavin on the couch, one of the sleeves of his coat hanging limp. Empty. Missing a limb, like Cleo. It took her human a few more minutes to catch on, and there were still noodles between his lips and the chopsticks when he froze to stare. He quickly slurped the rest of the noodles, and chewed so fast he coughed after. “The fuck happened to your arm?”

“A minor incident-”

“You’re missing a fucking arm!” 

“It couldn’t be repaired-”

“Fucking minor, you said minor and it can’t be repaired!”

“Gavin, please, calm down.” 

Gavin stood, and leaned over, getting a better, look removing the jacket from one shoulder, the t-shirt underneath and checking the empty port. “What happened?”

“A minor-”

“Don’t!” Gavin snapped. “I asked what happened, don’t tell me ‘a minor incident.” 

“Group of humans refusing to quarantine. They-” he paused, the spiny light switched colour. “They believed that androids created and spread the virus to take over.” 

Gavin glared at the empty port before turning to Nines and froze. Their noses were nearly touching. “Well, that’s bullshit.” Gavin stood dropped the jacket and sat back down. “We already know that’s bullshit. They’re just assholes who want someone to blame.” 

“You should start a swear jar, Detective.” 

Gavin opened his mouth, then quickly closed it, instead raising his middle finger. 

Nines smiled. 

“So, these— humans attacked you?”

“Yes.” 

“Nines-”

“I don’t wish to speak of it.” 

Gavin looked ready to argue, but picked up the Styrofoam container. He pushed the noodles around. “I should have been with you.”

“Gavin-”

“Maybe it wouldn’t have happened,” Gavin said. “We’re partners.”

“It would have been more dangerous to you,” Nines said. “I’m glad you were here. Safe.” 

Gavin glared for a moment, then stuffed his face with more noodles. He pointed at the empty jacket sleeve with the chopsticks. “What about—oh hell, spicy—what about a replacement?”

“Being a prototype model, I had a new type of port. I suppose new models would have had something similar had there been other androids developed. In any case, I am incompatible with all past models. Given that Cyberlife has switched production to medical supplies in this time of need, I cannot currently issue a request for a new limb.”

“Shit.”

“I suppose that is a word for it.” 

Cleo had been venturing closer, slowly. She’d crept under the coffee table, and then ventured up onto the couch. Freya didn’t like it, didn’t like the little dumbass so close to the stranger. Cleo pawed at the empty sleeve. Nines looked down at her, and Cleo didn’t even notice. Her attention was on the empty sleeve. The overhead fan made it move just enough, and Cleo attacked it with vigor. 

“Cleopatra!” Gavin tossed his food on the table, and tried to pick her up, but her nails were caught up in the fabric of the jacket. “Fuck, sorry!”

“It’s fine.” 

“Cleo, you can’t just attack people!” He gently got her claws free. He walked her to the other side of the table, set her down with some toys, and rolled the ball with the flashy light, and she was properly distracted, chasing it down the hall.

Gavin went to pick his food back up, but looked to the kitchen. “You want any—I guess not, never mind.” 

“I appreciate your attempts to be a good host.” 

Gavin went to the kitchen, and returned with a beer in hand. He went to twist it off only to grimace, checked the label and put the cap between his teeth. 

Nines shouted at him to stop, but Gavin gave the bottle a quick tip and the bottle hissed a little when opened. “You know, dentists are all closed right now.” 

The devil-may-care smile remained as he flicked the cap at Nines who caught it easily. “You worry too much.” The light spun.

Freya slowly made her way down her perch, level by level. 

“So they won’t let you work with one arm?”

“No,” Nines replied. The light flashed. 

The answer was heavy, like there was more, but neither said anything further. 

On the floor, Freya crept up close to the back of the couch, and jumped up. She put her paw over the spiny light, and Nines froze. She peeked under her paw, still spinning. She flattened her paw again, and then batted the spiny light. It continued spinning. 

“Freya! That’s no way to treat a guest!”

“She can’t hurt me.” Nines did turn to her, she hissed when he raised his hand and ran along the back of the couch to the arm closest to Gavin. She sat there, and glared over at Nines. 

“She’ll warm up to you.” Gavin said. “Want to watch a movie or something?” 

“That sounds agreeable.”

They sat side by side while Gavin ate his dinner, drank the beer, and Freya took over his lap the moment it was clear of food. She took a nap while the television played. When she woke, Gavin had his head tipped back, snoring softly. And Nines, he had his head resting on the back of the couch too, turned toward Gavin, a soft smile on his face. 

***

Nines stayed that night, and Gavin mentioned it was dumb for him to just go home and the two of them to be stuck in their own apartments by themselves. This co-habitation was eco-friendly. That was Gavin’s argument. Freya hopped up onto the counter, then the top of the fridge just so she could glare down at him. 

Persephone had recently decided the stranger would not deter her from getting breakfast, and she wove around Gavin’s feet while Nines agreed to continue the quarantine with Gavin until Gavin was permitted to leave—or until Nines could get a new arm, whichever came first. 

Nines crouched down, tapping his fingers on the floor until Persephone inched closer, curiously. “Who’s this?”

“That’s Persephone.”

“Named after the Greek goddess.” Nines looked up at Freya. “And Freya, after the Norse goddess, Cleopatra a great ruler. Quite the pattern.”

Gavin looked down as Cleo brushed against his leg. He picked her up and she snuggled in against his chest. 

“Strong names.” 

“Well… they are strong girls,” Gavin said with a shrug, gently putting Cleo down when she started to push at his hand. As always, he made sure all three legs were balanced before letting go. “Got Freya first. The shelter had basically given up on getting her adopted. She was an absolute terror. They found her on the street, hair all matted and nothing but bones.” Gavin got a hold of her and lifted her off the fridge. She settled looking over his shoulder as his hand lovingly brushed over her back. “She was micro-chipped. Turned out the family just fucking moved, left her inside, she must have escaped at some point.” 

“Who could just abandon their pet?” 

Freya felt the rise and fall of Gavin’s chest as he sighed heavily. “I believe everyone is an asshole, but some people are just worse than others. And these people were _the worst_.” 

“So you took her in.”

“The shelter was going to euthanize her the next day, so I took her home, figured what was the worst that could happen?” 

“She clearly likes you.” 

“She didn’t at first,” Gavin laughed. “Once she stopped hissing and hiding every time I came in the room, I knew we’d be okay.” 

Freya leaned in to the scratches behind her ear. 

Gavin talked about how Persephone came into their lives, a stray cat that had curled up under one of the wheels of Gavin’s car. He’d taken pity on the one-eyed cat, curled up and shivering in the snow. 

“The introduction between them could have gone better,” Gavin said. “Freya didn’t like being kept out of my bedroom for a few weeks while Pers got used to things.”

“Do they get along now?”

“Uh—well, luckily Persephone respects when Freya hisses at her and backs off. Freya doesn’t have her nails, so she wouldn’t do any good in a fight.”

Rude! Freya wriggled until Gavin released her, she kept her distance from them all and cleaned her paws. 

“Pers and Cleo get along pretty good most of the time though, they sleep curled up together sometimes.”

“And Cleo is the newest addition”

“Got her about six months ago,” Gavin explained. “I have a friend who works at a no-kill shelter, said she’d been there for over a year. Just no one wants to have a three legged cat. She’s perfectly fucking fine.” He reached out and picked her up. “Aren’t you, baby?” 

“Mrowr!” she kicked at his wrist with her foot until he chuckled and released her. 

“So that’s how you end up with those marks on your arm.”

“You should see the one Persephone makes on my chest with her kneading.” 

The two of them looked at each other while Gavin’s eyes widened and he looked down at Cleo who was looking about ready to attack the drawstring on Gavin’s track-pants. “Oh hell no,” he picked her back up and held her up one handed above his head. “No attacking drawstrings! We’ve talked about this!” 

“Mrowr!”

“You’re a fucking demon.” 

“Mrowr!”

He set her down and quickly stood. He picked up the tin on the counter and Persephone abandoned her new friend, Cleo’s ears flicked toward the sound a second before she did, and Freya feigned disinterest but also knew that Gavin wouldn’t let the other two take her treats. He threw a small handful into the living room and Persephone and Cleo both darted into the room. 

Freya remained, and Gavin set hers down in front of her, and put the tin back on the counter. 

The two of them did the things that Gavin usually did alone. Nines insisted upon helping with breakfast, and later with the day’s chores- chores that were done without the occasional graceless dance break, or the singing. 

Watching a TV show was traded for a split-screen video game. Nines used a wireless connection in his head, and Gavin declared that cheating before losing every round, and that kept them both on the couch until lunch. Gavin left Nines deciding to shower before eating. 

Nines looked at the controllers, but instead went to the kitchen. Persephone followed, the begging could be heard all the way to Freya’s perch. 

“He talks to you, even though you can’t answer,” Nines said. “I suppose it’s still nice, isn’t it? What do you think he would like for lunch? I’ve never had to cook, but following a recipe couldn’t be hard, right?”

Freya jumped down a level, crouched before pouncing over to the back of the couch, walking its length before jumping down. She peeked into the kitchen, and found Nines with the fridge door open, the cool air spilling out. 

The light on his temple blinked, switched colours and spun. “Perhaps a wrap would be highest in nutritional value, while still being next to impossible to mess up. Now is not the time to risk wasting food.” He pulled the necessary things out of the fridge, and took wraps out of the breadbox. 

By the time Gavin emerged from the shower, Nines had topped two wraps, spent a good ten minutes trying to fold them with one hand, before giving up and putting everything away. Gavin paused with his towel around his waist, staring at the plate. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“I know,” Nines said, looking down, then sharply back up. “I wanted to.” 

Gavin stared a moment then slowly nodded. “I’m just-” he pointed his thumb over his shoulder, and went into his room. 

Nines stared where Gavin had been. His LED spinning, spinning, spinning. 

***

Nines had spent the past few days with Gavin, the two of them playing video games (Gavin losing horrifically.) Doing yoga (”I swear, if I hear one word out of you, Tin Can.” “Of course not, Detective, you need to care for your physical wellbeing during this time. I could recite to you the health benefits of yoga if you’d like.” “Nope.”) Cooking (”you’re pretty good at doing that one handed.” “Thank you, Detective.” “Just call me Gavin.” “Of course, Gavin.”) Cleaning (Gavin catching himself singing along with the music while sweeping, only to stop when he looked at Nines.) Reading (sitting close to each other on the couch. Cleo had taken to Nines and settled on his lap for a nap during those times.) And playing (cat toys were always around, Gavin put a bit of cat nip on a few of them, and even Freya played a little, chasing after the feathers Gavin dragged around.) 

New routines were created, Persephone and Cleo both warmed up to Nines, but Freya remained on guard. She remembered the loud house. Then the silent one. The empty one. Not being able to fit through the slightly cracked open kitchen window. Not until she’d lost lost weight in the days of trying to find food, and drinking out of a leaky tap. 

She trusted Gavin. He took her from the cages. He came back. Even when he didn’t, Tina did. He sent his most trusted companion to care for them, and she never forgot shrimp treats. Not once. Nines was new, untested, and had no shrimp treats. She didn’t trust him one bit—at least, not yet.

It had been only a matter of time before Gavin had one of his _bad nights_. She heard him, and moved before the thrashing started, skittering back, her tail puffed up, watching in the dark. Then the light, as Nines hit the switch on the wall. 

Freya hissed at him, but was ignored. Nines went to Gavin as he cried out, twisting his head away from something, the cords in his neck taut and-

“Gavin, it’s okay,” Nines placed a hand on Gavin’s chest, only for the man to lash out, to push at his arm, screaming and kicking. 

Freya jumped off the bed and wiggled under it. She caught the glint of one eye, and knew Penelope was hiding here too. 

“It’s me, it’s just me, Gavin. Gavin, it’s okay. You’re safe.” 

The thrashing and screaming stopped, replaced with the heavy breathing. That was her cue. Freya wriggled back out from under the bed and jumped back on top of it. 

“I’m okay,” Gavin insisted. 

“You’re safe,” Nines whispered. 

Nines reached out, but Gavin flinched back. They both apologized at the same time. 

Freya walked along the messy blankets Gavin had kicked off, and he lifted his hand for her to tuck her head under. “There’s my sweet girl.” She walked right up, and put her front paws on his chest, to nudge her head under his chin. He held her close, and she felt his heart beating in that horrible too fast rhythm that came with the _bad night._

Knowing it was coming didn’t make it easier to be set aside. Gavin pulled on the clothes from the floor, grabbed the rectangle pack from the drawer. She followed him. So did Nines. 

She got the ‘no, you stay here,’ but Nines was able to follow where she could not go. 

She watched them on the balcony, the fire stick between Gavin’s lips, and the smoke that left his mouth. Nines mirrored how Gavin stood, both of them with their elbows resting against the railing, looking out at the city. 

Cleo wiggled a little, and Freya hissed at her before Cleo pounced. The two tussled a bit before Cleo took off in her awkward gait, and Freya took chase, swatting the younger cat when close enough. The two darted around the apartment until Cleo slid on the hardwood under the couch. 

Freya walked away feeling victorious, and returned to the door. Now when she looked out, Nines and Gavin were shoulder to shoulder, speaking softly, ashes falling from the fire stick ignored in Gavin’s hand. 

***

From the top of her perch, she watched Nines and Gavin with mats under their feet. They were taking up the best sun spot in the room. Rude. They weren’t even laying in it, what a waste. The two of them moved, Nines following whatever Gavin did, minus one arm. Gavin in turn started trying to do the poses with one arm too, both of them bent over, feet planted along with one arm. 

“I don’t think this distance qualifies as social distancing,” Gavin said. 

“I can’t catch-”

“Nama-stay away from me.”

The light blinked. “All that, a set up for a pun?” 

Gavin grinned, and playfully kicked Nines off balance. 

Nines was swift with his retaliation, kicking out one of Gavin’s feet, and pulling his wrist, forcing him to fall to his side. Gavin laughed, and the two of them end up tussling on the floor. 

A fury of motion, of laughter, of playful smack talk followed by freezing. Both of them deciding the fight was over. Freya watched waited for motion. Nines straddling Gavin’s waist, hand on his throat, Gavin’s hands up by his head, not fighting—a surrender. 

The hand eased away. “Sorry, Detective, I believe we—”

“Gavin,” Gavin replied, voice sharp. 

“Gavin.” 

Frozen again. Then sudden rushed movement. Nines stood, paced a step away before turning back and offering his hand. Freezing. Seconds passed and Gavin accepted it. 

They don’t do yoga again. 

***

Days passed, Gavin only ventured out a few times- and it was only to take the garbage out to the big bin, or to take the clothes basket away.

They didn’t do yoga, but Gavin still worked out. Cleo slept on Nines’s lap while he read, but he spent most of his ‘reading’ time looking over the top of the book at Gavin doing push-ups. 

Freya jumped over from her perch to the back of the couch, to bat at the flashing light that had shifted colour. Nines paused in petting Cleo to reach up and pet her. This time, she allowed it for a few seconds before swatting his hand and walking away. She was in charge here.

The noise of Gavin’s phone startled her, but he turned it off. “I’ll be right back.” 

And he was, returning with the clothes that smelling different than before, all folded up. While Freya wanted to nap in them, they were put in the drawers, or hung away in the closet. 

She followed Gavin back out of the room, and he flopped down on the couch. “I am so fucking sick of being inside. I thought I could tolerate it, but this sucks.”

“Perhaps a new activity to take your mind off things?” 

“You got anything in mind?”

“Have you checked in with your family? Perhaps a phone call?”

Gavin paused, then shook his head. “Nah. I’ve been texting Tina through the days, and she has her mystery girlfriend with her. Any chance you know who it is? She keeps giving me the run around.”

“No,” Nines replied. 

Gavin eyed him a moment, but seemed to decide that Nines was telling the truth. 

“You could try painting-”

“I don’t have paints, I’m not really artistic.”

“What hobbies do you have?”

“I work.”

“Gavin-”

“I’m a fucking homicide detective, I don’t get a lot of down time. I read. I like having the time to drive out somewhere and explore trails. Sometimes I have enough time to binge a few episodes of a tv show. This is an unprecedented amount of free time in my adult life and I have no idea what to do with it.” Gavin wiggled his toes, and Freya looked at the targets. “What about you, huh? Got hobbies?”

“I haven’t settled on any, there are so many to explore. I’ve tried painting, I’m admittedly not very good at it. I went birdwatching-”

“Are you eighty?”

“They are interesting and beautiful creatures.” 

“You look so young, but at heart, you’re eighty.” He laughed. “I can’t believe you fucking birdwatch!” 

“Not really, while I enjoyed the outdoors, I had little interest in the birds.” 

“Okay, what else have you tried?” Freya swatted Gavin’s toes.

“Archery. I accidentally broke one of the bows, and it was decided I would not be allowed to continue practicing at that venue. They said I needed to pull back hard.” 

Gavin sat up enough to rest his head on the back couch cushion. “Holy shit, Terminator.” 

Nines sighed, and Cleo jumped down from his lap. “I thought it best to learn to be more gentle. I took up origami.” 

“How did that go?”

“I enjoy it. It’s… soothing.” 

“Be right back,” Gavin said, standing up. He went into the bedroom and emerged with some sheets of white printer paper and a pair of scissors. “I don’t got any of the fancy paper, but here, teach me something.” 

Nines smiled. “Okay.”

By the end of the afternoon, the coffee table was littered with an assortment of origami animals. At some point Gavin had grabbed some tape and a pen. He’d given the dinosaur eyes, and taped a cut out of a coffee cup to his hand. 

Cleo jumped up on the table, and knocked over several of them in her demand for attention. Nines picked her up one handed, cradled her gently, putting her in his lap, lucky that the darker hair blended with the dark clothes he wore. He also had bits of the orange from Persephone walking against his ankles in her bid for treats. 

Freya’s hair was mostly on Gavin, long white hairs didn’t show up much against the grey of his sweater. She stepped up behind him, where he sat on the floor, folding along with what Nines did. He took the minute to scratch behind her ear. 

Persephone started her timely meowing in the kitchen, and Gavin glanced at his phone. “Shit, it’s after dinner time for you girls.” He abandoned his artistic pursuit and Persephone nearly tripped him the second he walked into the kitchen. “Two seconds, Pers!”

“Mew!”

“Yeah, I know, I know.” He opened the container and doled out a scoop to each of their dishes. 

Freya hissed at Cleo when she got too close, but otherwise enjoyed her meal. Afterward, she had a nice nap on Gavin’s bed, in the dark and quiet. When she woke, she hopped off the bed, and found the number paper creatures had grown, spilling from the table to the floor. Some had stripes drawn on them, others polka-dots. 

“I’m telling you, this dinosaur is going on my desk when I get to leave here,” Gavin said. 

“I didn’t do it right, I can make a better one,” Nines complained. 

“No, no, this one is perfect.” 

“His arm-”

“He’s perfect,” Gavin repeated in a tone that permitted no argument. 

Nines nodded slightly, and returned his attention to the paper under his fingers. 

***

Freya woke when Gavin sat up. Not a bad night, but he still groaned when he stood, stretching out tall, and bending left then right, his shoulder popping. He pulled on a pair of sweatpants, but didn’t bother with a shirt. 

“Morning, sweet girl.” He leaned down and kissed between her ears. She stood and stretched too, following him as he left the room. 

“There is a vaccine in trials,” Nines said the moment they emerged.

“That fast?”

“Androids working around the clock and sharing information with one another certainly helped,” Nines replied. “The death toll is still climbing, doctors are overwhelmed with cases, suspected cases, and the so called ‘business as usual.’ A vaccine can’t come too soon.” 

Persephone called out from the kitchen, but Gavin remained for a long moment before running his hand down his face. “Okay.” 

Freya followed him to the kitchen, ate her own breakfast while Gavin cooked his own. 

“I’m going to need to order more groceries soon.” 

“I can get them for you,” Nines volunteered from the doorway. 

Gavin looked over his shoulder. “All things considered, I’ll just order them.” 

“I’m perfectly capable with one arm.” 

“You were also attacked when you had two.” 

“If you think I’m incapable-”

“I’m worried about you, asshole!” 

“Oh.”

The silence persisted until Gavin plated his eggs on his toast. “So… do you want to start a new tv show?”

“What do you want to watch?” Nines asked.

Gavin shot Nines a smirk. “Not birds.” 

“You’re not going to let that go, are you?”

“Come on, you old man.” Gavin brushed past with his plate in one hand, a mug of coffee in the other. “You pick. No birds.” 

“No birds, got it.” 

Several hours later they were both still on the couch. Gavin had skipped lunch in favour of quick snacks while they were both wrapped up in a show. Cleo clearly didn’t mind, as she got to nap on Nines’s lap. Persephone was sprawled on the table, amid the paper creatures. Freya took her favourite patch of sun and napped the afternoon away. 

***

Nines gave them their food and treats in the morning. Freya ate hers, but it gained him nothing. She could not be bribed with food. 

Gavin woke up late since they had spent half the night on the couch watching the show to completion. 

“I’ve thought of another activity to try,” Nines said, putting the tin on the counter while Gavin made a lettuce wrap. “It covers both physical activity, and appreciation of music.”

Gavin looked confused. 

“Dancing, Gavin.” 

Gavin huffed out a laugh. “Yeah, okay,” he said with a roll of his eyes. 

“Excellent, I’ve found numerous-”

“That was sarcasm.”

“Oh.”

Gavin sighed, and grabbed his plate. “Fuck, fine, numerous what?”

“Online classes that we could stream.” 

“What kind of dancing?” he asked, taking a bite, something falling out of the wrap and Persephone was quickly on it. “It’s a tomato-okay, apparently you’ll eat those too.” 

“We could try any of them,” Nines said. “Ballet is likely out, you’re not equipped-”

“I’m not doing anything that involves standing on my toes.”

“Tap-”

“No, my downstairs neighbours are good people.”

“Hip hop.” 

Gavin grimaced. 

“Ballroom?”

“Us? Ballroom dancing.” More toppings fell out the back of his terribly made wrap and he cursed, at least it was caught on the plate this time. 

Nines frowned. “Is that wrong?” 

“No. Just… no, it’s not wrong.” He puffed out his chest. “Fuck it, ballroom, find us the best fucking ballroom dancing class.” 

The sun moved along the floor, the empty plate was put in the kitchen, and the coffee table moved out of the way. 

Freya watched from her perch, far away from the graceless steps. Persephone had retreated to the bedroom, and Cleo watched from the couch- even she was smart enough to see how dangerous the situation was. 

They tried to follow the motions on screen, it got marginally better when they stopped trying to dance together while remaining three feet apart. 

Cleo jumped from the couch, and Freya reevaluated the measure of her intelligence once again. Cleo wound her way around Gavin’s foot and tripped him as he tried not to step on her. 

Nines held him close. “You alright?” 

“Yeah, it was just Cleo,” Gavin replied, glaring at the cat in question before looking up at Nines. “I’m fine.”

Nines’s hand rested on his Gavin’s lower back. “Would you like to continue?”

“Might as well,” Gavin replied. 

They danced a lot better after that. 

***

They continued the dancing lessons on consecutive nights until it became routine. Freya watched from up high. They got better, managing to actually stay on beat, until they didn’t, and their feet didn’t move much, and they were more just swaying in place. 

“Am I just stir-crazy and reading into this?” Gavin asked as they came to a standstill while the instructional video played in the background. 

“No.” 

“Oh thank fuck!” Gavin wrapped his arms around Nine’s neck and pressed their lips together.

When they parted they fell into a dance, but neither was paying the instructor any mind, swaying together as one. 

***

Later, when they sat on the couch, much closer than normal, Cleo jumped up settling on her new favourite spot. Persephone watched them from her spot sprawled on the coffee table. Not to be left out, Freya jumped from her perch to the back of the couch, she paused to bat at Nines’s light, but continued on before he could try to pet her. She jumped down onto the cushion at Gavin’s side. 

“This whole situation sucks,” Gavin said, but leaned against Nines’s shoulder. “But it’s a lot better with you.” 

Nines pressed his lips to Gavin’s temple. “I feel the same.” 

Freya curled up on Gavin’s lap, and didn’t put up a fight when it was Nines who scratched behind her ears. 

“Looks like she finally warmed up to you.” 

“I guess so,” Nines sounded pleased. As he should. 

Freya didn’t know how long her human would be staying home for, but she did like that Nines made him happy, lighter in a way she couldn’t, and for that she started to purr under his touch. This companion was new, but he was good. 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/DaydreamsGolden) and as per usual, I'm hanging out over at on [ Detroit: New ERA ](https://discord.gg/GqvNzUm) there’s lots of fics, and fanart, and fun, so come join us <3


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